Comparison

Outliner vs Purelist

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Outliner

Organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects with a powerful outlining tool. Create structured lists, track project progress with visual indicators, and collaborate with others. Sync your work across devices and cloud storage for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Create structured outlines
  • Track project progress with pie charts
  • Sync with cloud storage (OneDrive, Dropbox)
  • Collaborate with other users
  • Drag and drop editing
  • Search and filter outlines
  • Archive old outlines
Features
Read full description

CarbonFin Outliner allows you to organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects. Easily create a todo list for today, or track an entire project anywhere you are. Share your outlines, edit them online, and collaborate with other Outliner users. Highlights • Create outlines full of notes, structured lists, tasks, or detailed projects • Sync your outlines automatically to Outliner Online, OneDrive, or Dropbox for web or desktop editing • Get a quick view of project progress - tasks with subtasks show a pie-chart indicating percent completed Organize • Search through all your outlines or an individual outline • Tag your outlines, and filter based on tag • Archive old outlines to hide them from view without deleting Easy-to-use Editor • Drag and drop to move items within an outline • Copy, paste • Undo, redo • Expand all, collapse all • Optional outline numbering • Zoom in to focus on a single subtree Outliner Online • Securely synchronize your outlines with Outliner Online • View and edit your outlines in any web browser • Import and export outlines as plain text or OPML • Keep all your devices synchronized • Share an outline with other Outliner users to collaborate OneDrive and Dropbox • Sync your outlines with OneDrive or Dropbox to allow quick import/export • Seamlessly access and edit across your iOS devices and PCs -= Recent version history =- Version 3.20 • iOS 27 support • Updated Dropbox and OneDrive integrations • Bug fixes Version 3.19 • iOS 26 support and adoption of liquid glass Version 3.18 • iOS 18 support • Dark and tinted app icons Version 3.17 • Minor bug fixes Version 3.16 • Minor bug fixes • iOS 17 support Version 3.15 • Fixed Dropbox integration • Show a warning when unlinking Dropbox/OneDrive if there are unsynced outlines • iOS 16 support Version 3.12 • Dark mode • Added confirmation to "Delete Completed" • Changing "Archived" won't update the outline's modification time • iOS 13 support Version 3.11 • OneDrive sync support Version 3.10 • Sync the order of outlines across devices (CarbonFin outlines only) • iOS 12 support Version 3.9 • iPhone X support • iOS 11 support Version 3.8 • Open In... support • Ability to hide the outline list on iPad • Minor UI tweaks

About

Purelist

This app helps organize thoughts and manage tasks with a minimalist approach. It focuses on core functionality for productivity, offering features like sorting, widgets, and indentation. An optional Pro version unlocks advanced features like reminders and iCloud sync.

Highlights
  • Free item sorting
  • Home screen widget
  • Mark important items
  • Indentation for outlines
  • Search by item
  • Swipe to complete/delete
  • Add item descriptions
Read full description

Purelist is a thought organizer for those who are serious about their work or studies. Purelist prioritizes your focus on what's important, not adding extra features or decorations to get your attention. If you are looking for a motivational tool, Purelist may not be for you. However, if you need something simple to help you achieve your goals, it may be perfect for you. Purelist can be used for daily planning, task management, and note taking. It's helpful for habit checklists, lecture notes, and shopping lists. Its clean interface won't steal your time. There are no ads, and it doesn't collect your data. Purelist has no checkboxes in the list and is completed by swiping, so it can be used for both task management and idea capture. The star icon indicates the urgency of tasks or the importance of ideas. Purelist is designed to do more with less, so you don't get confused and lose the features you need. Use Purelist to increase your productivity! Key Features: • Sort tasks and items freely. • Show your list on your home screen at any time with the widget. • Mark important items to mark them more prominently. • Use indentation for easier writing and reading outlines. • No need to title your lists and tasks. • Easily search by item. • Smooth completion and deletion as you work with each item. • Add descriptions to items to manage items in detail. For Pro: • Sync lists between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud. • Set reminders for tasks and items. • View and manage reminders by date. • Quickly set reminders using date presets. • Send system notifications at set times. • Can repeat reminders on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annually schedule. • The list can be divided into groups to organize the list in more detail. • Subgroups can be added to a group.

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
Purelist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Purelist at Free against Outliner's $4.99. Purelist also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). Outliner's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On ratings volume, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Purelist is free to download; Outliner costs $4.99 up front. Purelist sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Outliner asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Outliner holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 88 and 41 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 75% of Purelist's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, Purelist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Outliner versus Purelist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerPurelist
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (88 ratings) — better4.6 (41 ratings)
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings88 — better41
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#123 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarbonFinShintaro Miyake

Customer experience

Outliner

All ratings88 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews323 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral6.2%
Negative7.1%

Purelist

All ratings41 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative10.7%

Bugs and requests

Outliner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unexpected error: 500 when saving data
  • Pane that lists outlines won't go away or resize
  • Keyboard takes up too much screen space

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add due dates and priority levels for tasks
  • Improve export and sharing options (e.g., PDF, Word)
  • Implement better organization and search capabilities
  • Introduce a desktop companion app for easier editing
  • Add support for voice notes and other multimedia

Purelist

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Outliner

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Purelist

Subscriptions4
  • Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$0.491 Month
  • Purelist Pro14 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Purelist Pro for Students14 Days trial$4.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Purelist Pro14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time2
  • Purelist Pro for Students$24.99
  • Purelist Pro$49.99

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Purelist free?
Purelist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Outliner or Purelist?
Outliner is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 88 ratings, while Purelist averages 4.6 from 41 ratings.
Do Outliner or Purelist have ads?
Neither Outliner nor Purelist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outliner or Purelist?
Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and Purelist fortnightly. Most recently, Outliner was updated on September 25, 2026 and Purelist on June 10, 2026.

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